


Stand Your Ground.

by IAmTheNightman98



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attack, Post Episode 3, Post battle of Winterfell, Season 8 Spoilers, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 15:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18640876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmTheNightman98/pseuds/IAmTheNightman98
Summary: The battle of Winterfell is over. The army of the dead fall in unison and the fighting ends.But Brienne can’t stop screaming.Jaime and Podrick must help one another to calm her down and bring her back to reality.





	Stand Your Ground.

The dead fall. 

And they keep falling. Every last one of them drops to the ground like the rotten old corpses that they are. Jaime’s fingers tighten around the hilt of his sword and he braces himself for a resurgence that doesn’t come. 

He glances over to Podrick, whose back is pressed against the wall. His eyes are squeezed shut and he pants for breath rapidly.

Then, Jaime looks over at Brienne. 

She’s still screaming. 

She’s howling and roaring, wielding her weapon against the dead that lay slumped at her feat. Oathkeeper hacks the bodies on the ground to pieces as she cries out in anguish. 

“Brienne.” Jaime chokes out, spitting out a mouthful of blood and dirt as he does. “Brienne, it’s over.” He says more firmly, but she doesn’t stop screaming. He can see the blood dripping down her right temple and her hair swinging wildly over her face. She’s baring her teeth in a rage, still clutching and wielding her sword. “Brienne!” He cries above the noise. “It’s over. Listen to me. It’s over.”

He keeps yelling, and so does she. It’s like her mind is separated from her body. She can’t hear him. She can’t register the fact that it’s really over. 

“Help me with her.” He calls to Podrick, then pulls the younger man into a standing position by the hem of his tunic.  Pod springs into action immediately and his eyes dart between Jaime and Brienne for a signal of what to do next. 

Jaime abandons his sword on the ground, then forces his way past the bodies on the floor until he reaches Brienne. When she raises her arm, ready to bring down her sword once more, he grips her tightly by the wrist. She struggles against him, screaming and thrashing, but Podrick uses his initiative and wrestles Oathkeeper from her grip then let’s it clatter to the floor beside them. 

Once she is unarmed, Jaime pushes her back against the wall, using his left hand and his right forearm against the breastplate of her armour. “Stop! Brienne, stop! It’s over. It’s over.” Jaime repeats, trying desperately to get her to stop screaming. The sound makes his blood run cold. She sounds like she’s ready to fight with the fire of a thousand suns. 

She sounds terrified.

Eventually, the screams turn to gasps. She’s panting for air and her chest heaves deeply. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” He repeats over and over, catching her as she slumps against him, still gasping for breath. 

He turns back to Podrick who is watching in fear, seemingly unsure of what to do next, so Jaime makes a decision. “We need to get her inside.” He says firmly, then loops his left arm under Brienne’s right arm and wraps it tightly around her back, letting her rest her weight against him. 

Podrick quickly moves to her other side and, although he is much shorter than her, he wraps his arm around her as Jamie has done, so that the two men can support her together. With her arms around their shoulders, they are able to half guide, half drag her towards the nearest doorway. 

Despite the fact that they are dragging her away from the battle, she still struggles for breath between frantic pants. “It’s okay. We’re safe now.” Jaime tells her softly. 

He doesn’t know that for sure. All he knows is that the army of the dead fell by the thousands in unison. He prays that that is a good sign and Bran’s plan to kill the Night King worked. 

After a few moments, Jaime and Podrick find an abandoned stone staircase and carefully lower Brienne to sit on the steps. Pod then steps back a little to give Jaime some space. 

Jamie then crouches so that he is eye level with Brienne and cups her cheek with his left hand. “Listen to me.” He says firmly. “It’s finished. The battle is over.” 

Her eyes are squeezed tightly shut and she shakes her head, trying to struggle from his grip. Her entire body is shaking. 

Jamie realises in that moment that although she is a warrior, this was her first real battle. She was faced with an unstoppable barrage of the dead. It was the most horrendous, terrifying thing Jaime had ever been a part of. He can’t even begin to imagine how she was feeling. She was responsible for thousands of men, most of whom had died. He can see the guilt, terror and anguish on her face as she thrashes and pushes him away. 

“Brienne. I’m here. I’ve got you.” He says softly. Her eyes snap open and she looks at him, but then her face crumples and the pants for breath turn to sobs. 

“What happened?” She chokes out, looking back and forth between Pod and Jaime. 

Jaime shakes his head. “We don’t know. Nobody does. They just fell, every last one of them all at once.”

“We were going to die.” She stammers out. 

Jaime nods sombrely. “We were. But we didn’t.” 

Tears stream uncontrollably down her face as she shakes her head repeatedly. “I don’t understand. I don’t understand.” She mutters softly. 

“It’s okay, you don’t have to understand right now. Just try to breathe.” He tells her slowly, sitting beside her on the steps and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. 

She nods her head softly too and her sobs became less violent. She curls into his side briefly before speaking again. “Podrick.” She whispers. “You’re alive.” She says in disbelief.

“I was taught to fight well, Ser.” He tells her in response and Jaime, in spite of everything, chuckles slightly. He then gestures with his head to the steps on the other side of Brienne for Podrick to sit down.

As Podrick sits, Jaime presses a soft kiss into Brienne’s temple. “I’m so proud of you.” He whispers into her hair.

When Podrick sits down, Brienne sighs softly and reaches out to cover the younger man’s hand with hers and gives it a gentle squeeze. Then, she turns back to Jamie and they lock eyes. She opens her mouth to speak but Jaime tightens his arm around her shoulder. “I know.” He says with a nod, and she nods back in understanding.

There would be time for everything they needed to say later. 

For now, they just sit, huddled together in the stairwell, unable to believe how fucking lucky they are to still be alive.

Jamie has no idea how long they sit in that way, with his arm around her shoulders, and her hand tightly clutching Podrick’s, but he thanks the gods he doesn’t believe in that they are able to do so  

Outside they can hear the crackling of the fire, the cries of dying men, and the post battle chaos, but none of that seemed to matter. They survived.

They fucking survived. 

He doesn’t know how long they would be safe for, or if they were even truly safe all. He doesn’t know how many of their friends had fallen. He doesn’t have a fucking clue what would happen next.

All he does know was that right here is the only place in the world that he wants to be.


End file.
